A ninth person accused of being involved in the organization of the attack claimed by the Islamic State group which left more than 140 dead in the suburbs of Moscow has been placed in detention, Russian justice announced Friday.
Exactly a week ago, armed individuals opened fire at Crocus City Hall, a concert hall near the Russian capital, before setting it on fire. Russian authorities announced a death toll of 143 on Wednesday, and Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Friday that another person had died. Dozens of injured people are still hospitalized. Four alleged attackers have since been arrested, along with several suspects accused of helping them.
The suspect is from Tajikistan
On Friday, a ninth suspect, Nazrimad Loutfoulloi, was taken into custody, the press service of the Moscow courts announced. He is from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, as are the alleged attackers. Authorities have not said what role he is accused of playing. His pre-trial detention lasts at least until May 22.
The attack is the deadliest in Russia in twenty years, and the worst claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) on European soil. IS confirmed Friday the arrest of four of its members, whom it designates as the perpetrators of the attack. Despite this clear jihadist claim, the Russian authorities persist in establishing a link with Ukraine, a country they have been fighting militarily for more than two years.
On Thursday, the Russian Investigative Committee, the body responsible for the main criminal investigations, affirmed that the perpetrators of the attack had “links with Ukrainian nationalists” and had received “large” sums of money from Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin himself said that the alleged attackers were trying to flee to Ukraine at the time of their arrest. The director of the Russian security services (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, accused the Ukrainian and Western secret services of having “facilitated” the attack.